Mixed Groups Made Easy [Guest Post]

Today I’m bringing you a guest post from Hallie, who blogs at Speech Time Fun.

Thanks Teach Speech365 for hosting me today. I am honored and excited to be guest blogging on your website today. I am Hallie Sherman from Speech Time Fun and today I will be discussing a common struggle amongst SLPs…mixed groups!

Mixed groups? Eek! No matter how much we would LOVE to have beautifully crafted therapy groups with students all working on the exact same thing, we know it is almost impossible. Not with scheduling restraints and increasing caseload numbers.

It isn’t impossible, it just takes some planning and flexibility. It takes thinking outside the box. I personally prefer having one activity that can be used for multiple goals: articulation, fluency, language, social skills, and more! What are my favorite ways to tackle this challenge?

• Games: There are many games that can be used to target multiple goals. Apples to Apples, Bubble Talk, Obstacles, Taboo, Guess Who, and Rory’s Story Cubes are just some of my favorites. These games encourage social interaction, can have bombardment of an articulation target, difficult vocabulary, requires following directions, and more!
• Storybooks: Read a book and students can work together to complete a variety of activities that can address multiple goals. There are so many storybooks available on Amazon (or your local/school library) that can work on sequencing, problem solving, prediction, WH questions, and more. I also love using Wordless story books. Click HERE to learn more about that!
• Crafts: Take a craft that relates to an articulation target. Students can follow directions, discuss the process, work together, share materials, predict the steps, retell the steps, and more!
• Apps: There are TONS of free and paid apps that can be used to target tons of goals. One of my favorite is The Bag Game where students can take turns trying to guess what others’ have hidden behind the “bag.” They have to ask questions to get clues.

Whatever the activity, if it encourages verbal interaction, there is a way to make it work!

Think positive, it can be done. Don’t fear those mixed groups! You are awesome!

Hallie Sherman, M.S. CCC-SLP is a licensed Speech-Language Pathologist and author of the blog, Speech Time Fun. She enjoys sharing quick tips and tricks to help busy SLPs make therapy fun and motivating for struggling students. Learn more about her by visiting her TpT store or follow her on Facebook and Instagram. You can also tune into her LIVE on Periscope @speechtimefun where she shares quick tips, tricks, and low prep therapy ideas.